How to use dictation on a Mac
These steps follow Apple’s guide for macOS 27. On an older version of macOS, menu names can differ a little.
- Click the Apple menu, then System Settings, then Keyboard in the sidebar.
- Go to Dictation, turn it on, and click Enable.
- Click into the place you want to type: an email, a note, a document, a search box.
- Start Dictation. Press the Microphone key if your keyboard has one. Or press your Dictation shortcut. Or choose Edit > Start Dictation from the menu bar.
- Speak. Your words appear at the cursor.
- To stop, press Escape, the Microphone key, or your Dictation shortcut.
Dictation also stops by itself if it hears no speech for 30 seconds. Apple says you can dictate text of any length without a timeout.
If your Mac has no Microphone key, you choose the shortcut yourself. We cover that in the Mac dictation shortcut guide.
What to say: voice typing on a Mac
You do not need to learn commands to start. Just talk.
- Say punctuation by name, for example “exclamation mark”.
- Say “new line” or “new paragraph” to move down.
- Say an emoji’s name, for example “heart emoji”.
- Apple says commas, full stops and question marks are added automatically in supported languages. You can switch that off with the Auto-punctuation setting under Keyboard > Dictation.
For a quick check that it works, open Notes, click into a note, and choose Edit > Start Dictation. Say one sentence, then press Escape.
Writing in Google Docs? Apple Dictation types there as it does anywhere else, and Docs also has its own tool: see Google Docs voice typing.
Settings worth knowing about
| What you want | Where to find it on your Mac |
|---|---|
| Turn Dictation on or off | Apple menu > System Settings > Keyboard > Dictation |
| Change the shortcut | The same screen: the Shortcut pop-up menu, or Customize for your own keys |
| Pick another language | The same screen: Edit, next to Languages |
| Choose which microphone it uses | The same screen: Microphone source (Automatic, or a named microphone) |
| Stop automatic commas and full stops | The same screen: turn off Auto-punctuation |
| Switch language while talking | If you set up more than one: click the language next to the cursor, or press the Globe key if your keyboard has one |
All of this is from Apple’s guide (Dictate messages and documents on Mac), read on 6 November 2026. Apple notes that Dictation is not available in every language or region, so check Apple’s list for yours.
One detail: with Apple Intelligence in macOS 27, Apple says Macs with an M3 chip or later and at least 12GB of memory use an on-device model to improve spelling, punctuation and capital letters, in English. Other Macs still dictate, without that model.
If it doesn’t work
Start with three checks from Apple’s troubleshooting page: Dictation is switched on under Keyboard, you are pressing the shortcut shown there, and your microphone is chosen with enough input volume under System Settings > Sound. The full list, including microphone permissions and the internet check, is in Mac dictation not working: fixes.
When is a dictation app worth it on a Mac?
Apple Dictation is already on your Mac, and for short notes it may be all you need. Stay with it if you want nothing extra to install, or you dictate a sentence or two now and then.
A dictation app such as Talkativ works a little differently. Talkativ for Mac types into any app where you can place a cursor. Press Ctrl + Space on Windows, ⌥ Option + Space on a Mac to start, talk, and press it again to stop. It adds punctuation and capital letters and takes out “ums” by default, and a Vocabulary list helps it spell the names you use. It supports 100 languages, highly accurate in 56. The Free plan gives you 2,200 words a week, and the Pro plan is $7 a month or $56 a year.
It does not do everything. Talkativ needs an internet connection and does not work offline. It does not transcribe audio files, and there is no phone app. You press once to start and again to stop, rather than holding a key. And its shortcuts are fixed, so you cannot change them.
To see how Mac options compare, read Mac dictation apps compared, or see Talkativ for Mac.